Initial contact with the Orlon Third Mechanized Division was made at 0815 this morning. By 0948 Foxtrot Company had been driven off of perimeter positions to the east, and Hotel Company is falling back from fierce street-fighting to your north. Victor Company began engagement with Third Division forces just before noon, and are currently holding despite heavy losses at the city center.

You will link up with Victor and continue to inflict casualties on the Orlon forces of invasion. Drive them away from Basdeaux, block by block!

..Non Revertar Inultus..

Synopsis

Advance Wars meets Valkyria Chronicles. Rather then a single controlling general however, each squad on the Cendrian side is led by a different player. Communicate your tactics effectively, and guide your soldiers through the crucible of war!

Maybe elaborate a little bit more?

You are each leaders of a fire team in the Eighth Motorized Rifles (The Lionhearts) of the Cendrian volunteer military. The first portion of the campaign will focus on the actions of the Lionhearts as they battle across the Eastern Front to defend their homeland from foreign agressors. Each mission will take place across a hex-grid map where you will issue commands to your unit and then watch the results play out in turn-based combat. If you survive, you will be able to progressively upgrade your units and carve out your own slice of history in the Hall of Honor!

Bullethazard: The Core Mechanic

The game uses d10 dice exclusively. By far the most common rolls in the game are to determine success of shooting or melee attacks. In the unit sheets, a "Hit Rating" is a number from 1 to 9 surrounded by a square. When you attempt to perform the indicated action, roll #d10 where # is how many attacks you are granted by your chosen action. Remember to multiply die rolls by the number of surviving combat-ready members of your squad who are making the attempt. 3 Riflemen shooting rifles with Hit Ratings of 1 x |6| would each roll 1 dice, for a total of 3d10.

The result on the die indicates success or failure, with lower rolls being better. In the case of the riflemen above, any dice that rolled a 6 or under on their d10 would have scored a hit, and any who rolled a 7 or higher would have missed with their attack.

Check the rules manual for full details of the game's technical side! Alternatively, follow the example of the players around you!

Got your squad in mind? Good. Click on the spoiler related to your squad below. You will find a Unit Card there (the first few lines of text contained in the box). Copy and Paste this unit card into your reply! Insert a surname of your choosing in the "Blank" spot for your fireteam leader.

Be prepared to carry forward your Unit Data card at all times. It is where you will indicate your experience advances, as well as a resource tracker for ammunition and abilities spent during battle.

We will take the first six volunteers. Forward to battle, Lionhearts!

Voltigeurs

Unit Card

[V] Cpl. ________
Health:{2}{2}{2}

The Voltigeurs are the forward vanguard of the Cendrian Army’s heavy infantry, and practitioners of a pragmatic fencing style that is an offshoot of Valtic martial tradition. A Voltigeur shield-line is an unbreakable bulwark that will give even the most determined attacker pause for thought. Although Tyrian Legionnaires consider Voltigeur arms and armor crude by comparison to their own advanced designs, the natural resources of Cendria allow their military to employ bonded Ebontium composites in their equipment, a luxury that few other nations could hope to afford. The result is a superior alloy granting heavy armor with easy mobility that will not fatigue the wearer, but is nonetheless proof against many ranged infantry weapons. Similarly it forges balanced blades that will hold their razor-like cutting edge even against the hull of a main battle walker.

Rules clarifications:
Block - In order to gain the Damage Reduction benefit from shield blocking, every member of the unit must spend the Action (unless they are gaining the Block for free from Running as described on their unit card). The entire squad defends in a single facing in order to gain the damage reduction effect, so be sure to declare a direction.

The heart and soul of most Volunteer infantry divisions, Fusiliers are the perfect embodiment of the core ideals of the Cendrian military. They are resourceful, spirited, and more then capable of holding back a numerically advantaged enemy through prolonged skirmishing tactics. Their principle tools are the superior range and accuracy of their finely tuned rifles. And when the circumstances call for an assault by grenade and bayonet to flush out a cautious enemy, the flexibility of Fusilier battle doctrine enables the Cendrian infantry forces to take the initiative and claim their objectives.

Rules clarifications:
Rally! - Only one of the members (typically the squad leader) must spend the Half Action required to Rally. Remember that healing cannot be applied to an ally that is KIA, only those who are either Incapacitated or merely wounded.

Cendrian battle doctrine dictates the premier importance of speed, aggressiveness, and firepower against a critical point in order to break the enemy’s lines. Whether in attack or defense, few soldiers are as well equipped to handle these tasks as the Grenadiers. Sacrificing armor for mobility and a multitude of specialist ammunition for their launchers, these bold combatants use their ability to launch indirect attacks to shatter the opponent’s will to fight.

Rules clarifications:
Launcher - The AOE of the Launcher works differently to other grenades. First, if there is a unit in the targeted hex, roll an attack with a rating of [7] to cause 1 damage to it. Then roll an attack with a rating of [6] against every unit within 1 hex of the target hex, including the unit in the target hex that you just attacked (if there was one). In this way the target hex may take up to 2 damage from a single Launcher attack. Remember that the Launcher needs to be reloaded after every shot.

Specialty Ammo - Each member of the team has 1 Smoke and 1 Flare grenade. Smoke grenades obscure vision in a 1 hex AOE area where they land. For one turn, all shooting attacks through the smoke cloud suffer a [-2] Hit penalty (does not begin it’s effect until the start of the opponent’s turn). The smoke will dissipate at the end of your side’s following turn. Flare grenades may have a variety of mission-dependent uses, but are primarily helpful for lighting up areas of Fog of War on maps where vision is limited (approximately 2 hex AOE Reveal around the target hex). Be sure to declare at the time that you Reload if you are loading up a specialty grenade.

Brace for Impact - Explosive attacks are generally classified as any weapon that causes damage in an AOE pattern and is not also explicitly a “Flame” weapon. Brace for Impact’s Damage Reduction is automatic and requires no actions.

Chausseurs

Unit Card

[C] Cpl. _______
Health:{1.5}
S.Rifle [ ][ ]
Vanish! ( )

During his attempts to bring the Cendrian Fourth Volunteer Rifles to a decisive conflict in the foothills of the Cendrian border, Field Marshal Greiber of the Orlon Heavy Infantry Hunden Division is claimed to have called his elusive foes “sheer ghosts... we should perhaps have better luck if we train our weapons upon the mountain mists or the falling rain.” He spoke, of course, of the Chausseurs. These light infantry specialize in screening tactics, calling out targets for their allies, and the art of the one-shot kill. Commonly recruited from the big game hunters of the rugged frontier lands, Chausseurs are encouraged to maintain their independent streak and typically operate with very wide operational freedom, all the better to support the Cendrian Volunteers in the manner best suited to the situation.

Rules clarifications:
S. Rifle - When firing the Sniper Rifle, roll a single attack dice. If the roll score a rating of [7] or below, the result is 1 damage. If the roll hits a rating of [3] or below, the result is instead a Critical Hit for 2 damage.

Spotter - You may not Spot a single unit twice. Unless you specifically declare the allied recipient of the Spot effect, the Hit bonus will simply go to the first ally to post an attack against the target this turn (even if they posted before you).

Vanish! - When you declare you are using Vanish (usually at the end of your turn after performing other actions), your current position will be replaced with a marker. At the beginning of your next turn, pick a point anywhere within 4 hexes of your Vanish! marker to reappear within, then take a full turn from that starting hex.

Officier Subaltern

Unit Card

[O] Lt. _________
Health:{1}{1}{1}
Rifles: [ ][ ]-[ ][ ]-[ ][ ]

The Officer Candidate School of the Cendrian Volunteers is unlike that of other Europan militaries. Instead of a rigid adherence to doctrine, creative thought and a pioneering spirit are cultivated very early in the careers of the Cendrian officer corps. As a result all ranks of command encourage free-thinking and resourcefulness in their subordinates, with final result at the field level by the first lieutenants and non-commissioned officers. The quick thinking of Cendrian field officers has salvaged many a desperate situation where any other military would have failed at the test of personal initiative.

Rules Clarifications:
Flank! - Only the Lieutenant of the squad may use this ability. Flank may only be used to grant a Movement bonus to Infantry units, not Armor. If the ally has already acted in this turn you may choose the additional hex they move to for them. An ally that Runs on their turn adds the +1 Move from Flank! AFTER they calculate their run speed based on their normal Move.

First Aid - Only the Medic of the squad may use this ability. Remember that healing cannot be applied to an ally that is KIA, only those who are either Incapacitated or merely wounded. First Aid has unlimited uses.

The military leadership of Cendria pays considerable attention to matters of infantry resistance against armored assault, considering the likelihood that their own limited armored forces may be stretched thin in the event of a two-front war of invasion. The Lanciers are the premier resistance unit, employing powerful shoulder-mounted Anti-Tank recoilless rifles and infantry-repelling mines to form an effective defensive position. The ammunition employed in the Lance is a costly and difficult-to-manufacture multi-stage round that utilizes a lightweight yet dense Ebontium core for its penetrative properties. The combined weight of this weapon system is much less then the fixed AT gun emplacements sometimes used by other armies, allowing the Lanciers to bring their firepower on the move to support a mobile defense or an attack against fortified positions with ease.

AT Rifles - You have only 1 Reload to use! Consider working alongside Engineers and Chausseurs for ammunition and accuracy to gain maximum effectiveness.

Shred Mines - Mines may not be planted more then 1 to a hex. The AOE attack occurs at the end of the round, so if enemy troopers move rapidly over the mine hex it is possible the triggering unit may avoid the blast. On the other hand, it is possible to catch multiple targets if they all end their move within AOE.

Since the first time that an enterprising field mechanic resolutely continued fixing his assigned battle walker even in the midst of hostile fire, a dedicated corps of combat engineers has always been one of the defining characteristics of the Cendrian military. Despite lacking either the magi-scientific talents of Orlonni steel alchemists or the advanced machine-crafting abilities of the Tyrian Artificers, the Engineers of Cendria have always seemed able to make do with copious amounts of elbow grease and a rough-and-ready knowledge of how to bang a machine back into working shape.

In response to the difficulties experienced holding back the mighty biomechanical constructs of the Lavathian Combine in the last southern border conflict, the Engineers have taken to carrying newly-developed Volcano mines fashioned with magnetic sensor plates and a core consisting of rare earth metals and an Ebontium catalyst. When a Volcano mine is triggered a volatile chemical cocktail is injected into the Ebontium core and produces a directed energy reaction. The resulting upward geyser of superheated metal fragments is a highly effective anti-armor tool.

Rules Clarifications:
Engineering Kit (universal to all attached abilities) - All Engineering Kit abilities have a range of 1 Hex. Members of the team have 2 “ammunition” each for their Kits, and whenever they use an ability 1 kit is depleted. The exception to the ammo rule is Repair/Sabotage Armor, in which case a unit of “ammo” is lost only if the Hit roll to attack or repair the Armor unit was a success.

Ammo Drop! - This ability lays down an ammo cache in the targeted hex. Any allied unit other then the Engineers who dropped the ammo cache may use the Cache (0 action) at any point in their movement while they are adjacent to it, rearming the entire squad or vehicle of any limited Ammunition or limited Reload weapons that they have. The ammo cache disappears at the start of the next friendly turn, so coordinate their usage carefully! Engineers may never use an Ammo Cache to resupply their own Engineering Kits, or to replace their Volcano Mines.

Fortifications! - In the target hex, choose 2 linked facings (such as Northeast - Northwest, or West - Southwest). Any unit (whether infantry or armored) occupying that hex now receives a double cover bonus in those directions (enemies take a [-2] Hit rating penalty when firing at them through those facings). After any turn in which at least one attack was successfully negated by the fortification, its cover save deteriorates by 1 (first to a normal cover bonus, then collapsing entirely). A damaged or even collapsed Fortification may be repaired by a Geomancer using the Mend Fortification spell.

Repair/Sabotage Armor - Make the 1x[7] Hit rating roll in order to determine success or failure of the attempt to repair or damage the target. The Hit rating is normally the same for either result (but may be modified by Path upgrades). Only Armored vehicle targets may be attacked using Sabotage, you need to use regular Melee attacks vs. other Infantry units, even ones with a form of Damage Reduction.

Volcano Mines: Like Shred Mines, only 1 mine may be placed on a single Hex. The Volcano Mine's attack occurs as soon as an Armored unit triggers it, interrupting movement. If the vehicle survives the attack it is free to continue it's turn. Due to their extreme value and rarity, is not possible to recover Volcano Mine "ammunition" through the use of Ammo Drops.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Be prepared for a posting rate of around once every other day if you wish to keep pace with the battle. Sometimes things may go even faster, sometimes they will be slower.

The Machine-State has made it's move. Mechanized forward elements of the Wulf Division, supported by crushing aerial superiority, are streaming across the lightly-defended borders of the Free Principalities and sweeping south, bypassing the stiff defense line of the Cendrian Eastern border. Already the 11th and 13th Cendrian Border divisions are in danger of being encircled.

The Cendrian 8th Motorized Rifles ("The Lionhearts"), are tasked with holding off the forward elements of the Orlon Third Mechanized Division ("Wulf Brigade") as it races to cut off the retreat of the 11th and 13th Infantry divisions. This area of land across the border of the Free Principalities borders the Abrient Fen, territory that Valtic legions have fought and bled over for centuries. Battle is met in the morning as the Wulf Brigade comes across the Lionheart's hastily built fortifications at the site of the triumphal arc of a long-dead Valtic general.

Mission 2 Briefing (In-Progress)

Basdeaux. The name may evoke memories of a bustling commercial center, the wine-making capital of Cendria, the last great river-port on the Baronne before it empties into the Mirror Lakes, or of the grand Cathédrale Saint-Lýon de Basdeaux that is the cities' greatest cultural legacy. Some of you may know it best as the patron city of the 8th Motorized Rifle Division, and the home from where you enlisted into the Lionhearts. We owe much to the city.

It's time to return the favor. Following our successful delaying action at the Ruins of Perditio, the Third Mechanized Division responded by changing objectives and breaking to the West. They have been racing for the Baronne River, presumably to secure this principle supply route into the heart of Cendria and strangle our will to resist.

Central Command has chosen to leave our Border Infantry and Main Armored Divisions to fight the territory war with the Orlon ground and air forces streaming over the border. It's up to us to track with the Third Mechanized and stop them from executing a slash-and-burn strategy on our homeland from behind the front lines.

Crux
noun
\ˈkrəks, ˈkru̇ks\
1: a puzzling or difficult problem : an unsolved question
2: an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome
3: a main or central feature

They call it The Coil. A festering wound at the heart of the continent of Europa, countless generations of mankind have shed endless rivers of blood to control the raw resources that are cast into the world from the void of this abyss. To control the Coil is to control the fate of Europa. Dynasties rise and fall in time to the heartbeat of the land, and every few years the earth shudders and weeps magma as the Coil rearranges the land in every direction. Then the profiteers emerge, eager to claim resources and drink in the rewards.

The most recent eruption was nearly as long ago as the dark fate of the last nation to try to dictate the flow of Ebontium. Fifty years before the present day, the signing of the Lysian Pact ended hostilities between the Lavathian Combine and the Machine-State of Orlon and created the new nation of Cendria, the first Republic to inherit the ashes at the center of the continent following yet another catastrophic resource war.

But Cendria has flourished nonetheless, and with the timing of the Coil's next eruption long overdue the powerful nations of Europa are again focusing their gaze inward at the heart of the continent.

We currently have 3 of the 6 required volunteers for Echo Company's relief of the beleaguered forces battling in the area of the city square. Command notes with pleasure that anti-tank contingencies have been prepared for due to the strong Orlon armored element assailing our fair homes.

We would advise support elements be taken to allow these Lanciers to operate at full capability. Chausseur spotter elements are already in place with Victor company to call targets; perhaps the munitions supply-chain of some combat Engineers, or the medical services and motivational talent of an Officier unit? It bears note that our only current Officer (Scrubson) is no longer available to lead his team and so a replacement for after this battle might be welcome..